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Under blue skies and with a strong wind blowing, ������Ƶ President Connie Ledoux Book recently led a special dedication ceremony in the EcoVillage neighborhood at Loy Farm to honor a member of the Class of 2025 during Commencement week.

The ceremony marked the culmination of a dream that Trustee John Replogle P’18 and wife Kristin Replogle P’18 had to honor Gloria Kaso ’25, a student from Albania whose family years ago had generously hosted the Replogles’ daughter Tate Replogle ’18 during her Peace Corps service teaching English in the village of Bilisht.

The Replogles visited Tate during her experience and grew close with Kaso and her family, later encouraging Kaso to consider enrolling at ������Ƶ.

In 2023, the Replogles donated $100,000 to the EcoVillage project, which they called “truly inspirational” and “uniquely ������Ƶ.” Their gift funded the first home in the neighborhood, which was built by a team of students under the leadership of Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Robert Charest, co-founder of the Center for Environmental Studies at Loy Farm, along with input from ������Ƶ’s Planning, Design and Construction Management team.

The Replogles had always planned to name the house in honor of Kaso and to surprise her with the news upon her graduation. On May 22, one day prior to ������Ƶ’s 135th Commencement, that dream became reality. Kaso sat on the porch of the house that would bear her name and listened as the ceremony unfolded.

John Replogle recalled how much he enjoyed meeting Kaso’s parents, Drita and Ziqiri Kaso, who share his passion for sustainable living. The families grew so close that Replogle calls Kaso an “adopted daughter.” With her degree in engineering and computer science, Kaso plans to begin her career as an environmental engineer working on water reclamation projects for a firm in San Diego.

“She’s going to go out and help solve the world’s problems, and we could not be more proud of you, Gloria,” Replogle said. “You’ve done an exceptional job. The courage that you had to come so far from home to make (������Ƶ) your home, we are really thrilled and delighted to dedicate this home in your name. We want you to always feel at home here at ������Ƶ.”

Kaso teared up after hearing the news as students, faculty and staff broke into applause. She later said she was overwhelmed by the honor.

“To have an EcoVillage house at ������Ƶ named after me is more than an honor. It’s one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received,” Kaso said. “It’s a reminder of how far I’ve come, of the dreams I’ve held since childhood and of the future I’m committed to building. It’s not just a recognition. It’s a responsibility I carry with deep gratitude and pride.”

Kaso also shared her gratitude for the Replogle family.

“They saw something in me before I fully saw it in myself,” she said. “Their belief in my potential when it was still just a quiet dream gave me the courage to dream bigger, work harder and push forward with purpose. I will carry their belief in me into every project, every challenge and every step forward. One day, I hope to pass that same gift on, to recognize potential, to uplift others and to help build a more sustainable, hopeful world.”

The EcoVillage is a dynamic living-learning community, where students learn and practice sustainable living principles. The community opened in Fall 2024 with 12 students living in the first six homes. In partnership with donors, the final six homes will be added in the future, creating an opportunity for as many as two dozen students to apply their classroom learning to tending the farm while learning sustainable principles.

The community will serve as a model for sustainable architecture and hands-on, engaged learning opportunities unavailable at many colleges and universities.

At the dedication ceremony, Replogle shared how delighted the couple were to support the project.

“My career has been built on the idea of protecting the planet, and when Kristin and I first heard about this project, we were truly inspired,” Replogle said. “When I graduated, our college president charged us with a very clear directive. He said, ‘The world’s problems are your problems, and there are no problems that better human beings cannot fix.’ Kaso House is a source of inspiration to solve those problems. And hopefully a place like this will continue to inspire young leaders to step up and make the world’s problems their own.”

President Book called the EcoVillage “part of a greater mission” at ������Ƶ.

“We know we have engaged, experiential learning, but this mission was also about our students’ understanding that they’re the caretakers of the world ahead and that this sense of empowerment about how they choose to live can actually impact the world,” Book said. “The EcoVillage represents this effort with our students to not only learn by doing, but also to take ownership of the world. Each of these houses represents the use of creativity to respond to our impact on the world.”

Kaso House was a labor of love for 114 student “apprentices” who for two years worked alongside Charest to design and build the home. Charest also incorporated the project into his design courses.

“Every square inch of this house, its structure, innovative details, cabinets, furniture, were made with love and to be loved,” he said.

Charest, an architect committed to the principles of sustainable design, and students presented the project at a national design conference, which he called, “one of the proudest moments of my life.”

“I’m so grateful to ������Ƶ for being brave enough to support experiential learning in high stakes projects, such as (Kaso) House,” he said. “I spent the better part of my career designing and building good structures with apprentices. In the beginning, they do not know how to bring designs into being. After this experience, though, 114 wonderful humans became amazing designers, builders, problem solvers, leaders and so much more.”

Abi O’Toole ’26 was one of those student-apprentices and shared her experience at the ceremony.

“I think this building will always serve as a reminder that it was not just about the construction of the building, but also relationships, which I believe can teach us all that the process is just as important as the end result, especially when it comes to our role in sustainability for the planet,” she said. “We’ve worked hard to make eco-friendly choices throughout this build, but in the end, it’s about finding the right tools and the right materials that give us a strong foundation for the future.”

More about EcoVillage & Loy Farm

The EcoVillage living-learning community represents a major step forward in the evolution of Loy Farm, which the university acquired in 2000 from the late Bill Loy Jr., whose generous gifts to the university include Loy Center and the land upon which The Inn at ������Ƶ was built. The farm is a sustainable teaching and research farm that promotes experiential learning and community outreach and is located along Front Street east of the university’s South Campus and Comer Fields, where many of ������Ƶ’s intramural and club sports compete.

Each home is approximately 600 square feet and includes two bedrooms, a shared bathroom and areas for food preparation and gathering. The homes include distinctive features of sustainable design and construction, including rainwater collection systems and solar panels. An existing brick ranch house adjacent to the property was renovated to create a student commons building, with a group kitchen, laundry facilities and meeting room.

The farm has become a dynamic living-learning laboratory in keeping with ������Ƶ’s longstanding commitment to sustainability. Enhancing sustainability efforts is an important component of the Boldy ������Ƶ strategic plan, which will guide the university through 2030. Boldly ������Ƶ calls on the campus community to engage in sustainable practices to become carbon neutral by 2037, investing in renewable energy, reducing energy consumption and preparing students to lead lives that build a sustainable future.

About the Replogles

Former chairs of ������Ƶ’s Parents Council, Kristin and John Replogle have a long history of philanthropy in education, health, housing and the arts.

At ������Ƶ, their gifts have supported many key institutional priorities, including scholarship funding and construction of Founders Hall and Innovation Hall in the Innovation Quad and The Inn at ������Ƶ. In 2020, the couple established the Elizabeth “Tate” Replogle Endowment for Team Teaching in Religious Studies in honor of their daughter and her faculty mentors. The couple have also made a generous estate gift and are members of Order of the Oak, ������Ƶ’s planned giving society.

John is the founder and partner at Raleigh-based One Better Ventures, which advises, invests in and develops consumer brands with sustainable business models, including Burt’s Bees and Seventh Generation. He previously served as chair of ������Ƶ’s Engineering Advisory Board. Kristin Replogle serves as president of the Replogle Family Foundation.

Make an Impact

Many philanthropic opportunities are available to support the EcoVillage. To learn how you can make an impact, contact John Gardner ’01, senior director of development, at (336) 278-7432 or jgardner9@elon.edu.